Today, in a letter published in the Financial Times, UKCVA Chairman, Andrew Murphy welcomed the announcement from the Home Secretary, Theresa May’s calls for a streamlined visa system.

“Sir, The UK Chines Visa Alliance warmly welcomes the home secretary’s suggestions to streamline the visa system from Chinese visitors to the UK (“May seeks to bring in joint European visa for Chinese tourists”, September 28).

The UKCVA’s central argument is that the only way to attract significantly more Chinese visitors while protecting the robustness of Britain’s borders to find a way of enabling them to apply for UK and Schengen country visas at the same time and place. The home secretary’s proposals would do exactly that.

We believe this will make a major improvement in Chinese visitor numbers to the benefit of Britain’s economy. “